CALICUT, India, 29 October 2006 — The foundation stone for the Haj House at Karipur near the airport here would be laid before Dec. 10 and it would be completed within eight months, to be ready for use by the next year’s pilgrimage, Kerala Haj Committee Chairman A.K. Abdul Hameed has said. Various options would be weighed to ensure that the Haj House was made use of during other months. This year, Kerala will send 7,661 pilgrims to Makkah under Haj Committee supervision. Malappuram will top the list with 2,255 pilgrims, followed by Calicut with 2,054 and Cannanore with 902. Abdul Hameed urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to increase the state’s quota for pilgrims. “We’ll raise the issue at a meeting in Delhi on Nov. 4,” he told reporters in Malappuram. The chairman said he had asked the national carrier Air-India to allow pilgrims to carry at least 10 liters of zam zam water on their return. He said 25 volunteers would be selected to help the Hajis throughout their pilgrimage.
International Islamic Exhibition
Ithihadu Shubbanil Mujahideen (ISM), affiliated to the Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen (KNM), will stage an international Islamic exhibition, “Salvation”, to provide an insight into the teaching of Islam and to dispel the misunderstandings about the religion. The exhibition opens Dec. 17 at Swapna Nagari here. “It will provide an opportunity for non-Muslims to understand the true spirit of Islam. Islam’s approach toward terrorism will be the special subject in the wake of the global situation,” ISM state president Syed Mohammed Shakir said. Scholars from India and abroad, community leaders and delegates from Islamic countries will attend seminars, talks, workshops, question-and-answer sessions, panel discussions, and special programs for women and children. The exhibition will be held in three pavilions and the main pavilion will have 100 stalls depicting the birth and growth of Islam, its culture and heritage apart from an elaborate exhibition of Islamic literature.
Truckers to Go on Strike
Bus and truck owners have called an indefinite strike from Oct. 30 midnight to protest a government directive to fit speed governors on heavy vehicles. Transport Minister Mathew T. Thomas said the government directive followed an order of the Supreme Court that also had initiated contempt proceedings against officials in the Transport department for not complying with its order. The bus and lorry owners said the government had not taken any legal step to overcome the Supreme Court’s order even though they had given a strike notice a month ago.
Law to Regulate Cyber Cafes
The state government has reportedly proposed a law with strong provisions for discouraging pranksters, scaremongers, terrorists, hackers and sex offenders from exploiting the Web. The law would require browsers visiting cyber cafés to furnish an authentic photo identity card such as a driving license or voter’s identity card. Following e-mails threatening to kill the prime minister and the president last week, the police have directed all Internet cafes to keep a register of visitors. The register should be maintained for a minimum period of one year and handed over to the police on demand. The proposed law makes it mandatory for underage browsers to be accompanied by an adult with proper identification. The cubicles for customers should not be four feet high and the computer screen should face the common area inside the cafe. Minors should not be allowed to use computers inside cubicles or behind partitions. No cyber cafe should be allowed to operate within 500 meters of an educational institution and browsers should not be allowed to attach any device brought from outside to computers in the cafe.
Manmohan Cancels Program
The scheduled program of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to lay the foundation stone for the new sponge iron plant at Chavara in Quilon on Tuesday has been canceled “as there is some problem of landing for his helicopter there,” Chief Minister Achuthanandan said. Police meanwhile registered cases of sedition and criminal conspiracy in connection with the e-mail death threats to Manmohan and President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
